The Gov 2.0 Summit

Tomorrow, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and I will be speaking at the Gov 2.0 Summit on the topic of "Broadband as a Platform," during a session scheduled to start at 4 p.m.

The Gov 2.0 Summit is tackling some of the same questions we are examining in the Omnibus Broadband Initiative as we develop a National Broadband Plan at the FCC. For example, our Government Operations Team held a workshop on Aug. 6 that evaluated how broadband can improve the performance of government in terms of transparency, effectiveness and efficiency, and examined how new media, including social networking tools, advance civic participation.

In the weeks to come, we welcome your continued thoughts and ideas on what Government 2.0 looks like, and look forward to continuing the conversation at the Gov 2.0 Summit on September 10th.

Set up panels of citizens to advise the Commission on important subjects. Do not limit the participation to just industry experts the way the Commission does now. The FCC needs more input from regular citizens who have different views and perspectives than industry experts have.

On the subject of citizen participation: Recently, the FCC announced that it is seeking nominations and volunteers for its "Technical Advisory Committee" (TAC), which will meet several times a year in DC. However, it has also announced that it does not even intend to reimburse participants' travel expenses, much less pay them a stipend for their time. This will limit participation to those local to DC, representatives of corporations, and/or well funded lobbyists. The FCC should change this policy to ensure that the expense (which, given the cost of airfare and DC hotels, can easily amount to $1,000 or more per trip) does not preclude worthy individuals, or those without big money behind them, from participating.

On the subject of citizen participation: Recently, the FCC announced that it is seeking nominations and volunteers for its "Technical Advisory Committee" (TAC), which will meet several times a year in DC. However, it has also announced that it does not even intend to reimburse participants' travel expenses, much less pay them a stipend for their time. This will limit participation to those local to DC, representatives of corporations, and/or well funded lobbyists. The FCC should change this policy to ensure that the expense (which, given the cost of airfare and DC hotels, can easily amount to $1,000 or more per trip) does not preclude worthy individuals, or those without big money behind them, from participating.

Capture The Phone Numbers Using Your Camera Phone

If you have a camera and a 2D matrix code reader on your mobile phone, you can capture the FCC Phone numbers right to your phone by following these three easy steps:
Step 1: Take a photograph of one of the codes below using the camera on your mobile phone.
Step 2: Use your phone's Datamatrix or QR Code reader to decode the information on the photograph. Please note, these code readers are device specific and are available to download on the internet.
Step 3: Store the decoded address information to your phone's address book and use it with your Maps or GPS application.